I will not be ashamed. Romans 1:14

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I am not ashamed of the gospel ...
Say it with me again: "I am not ashamed of the gospel."

So why are so many of us ashamed? Why are so many of us unwilling to stand up for truth? Why are so many of us willingly abandoning the Word of God? How sad are these questions.

For the record, the gospel is the good news: Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world, lay in a tomb for three days, defeated death, and raised himself from the grave for all believers. Today, everyone who believes this good news, this gospel from God, will receive eternal life in the light of love!

And yet Christians around the world continue to abandon this good news, this gospel from God. How, you ask? We continue to deny sin.

Haven't you heard:
There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good (Psalm 14).
Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit (Ps. 5:9).
The poison of vipers is on their lips (Ps. 140:3).
Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness (Ps. 10:7).
Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.
There is no fear of God before their eyes (Gen. 20:11; Ps. 36:1)
-- Romans 3:10-18
We just don't get it sometimes. We are wicked, evil, greedy, depraved, deceitful, gossips, arrogant, boastful, senesless, faithless, heartless, ruthless -- sometimes all at the same time. So we find ways to deny God's truth to minimalize our wrongdoings; to delude the truth; to rationalize our behavior; to cast blame on someone else (like the devil); to divert attention away from our behavior; to victimize ourselves.We point fingers at the sins of other people so that we can forget our own (Rom. 3:28).

And we turn away from God's Word.

But there is good news: Christ Jesus died for those who will believe in him. He raised himself from the grave, showing us that we can have life with him ... if we will just believe (Rom. 4:25).

Today, too many atheists and liberals and conservatives and progressives are trying to silence the Word of God. The Pentagon is mulling over banning people from sharing their faith, saying those who do are an enemy of the state. Today, liberals are fighting for the right of people to choose to kill innocent unborn children. Today, churches, Christian nonetheless, are ignoring the Word and blessing these behaviors. Today, Christians are accepting adultery.I can go on, but I know you get the point.

God has shined his light on what's wrong. The Word has convicted us.

But He is offering us redemption.

I will not ashamed of the gospel ...

I will believe.


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